Video was shot of the Costa Concordia from the air using a mobile drone the drone has cameras attached and works by remote control.

What is a Drone?

“Drones” are probably the most advanced equipment in the field of robotics, aeronautics and electronics. The technical name of drones is “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” (UAVs). They are aerial vehicles which come in wide varieties of sizes, shapes and functions, which are controlled either by remote or control systems from the ground. They are generally used to carry out tasks in which manned flight is considered to be risky. Drones mostly find use in military services, but are now days finding use in various civilian operations such as search and rescue, weather analysis etc. They are known for their “precision” and “stealth” features. Drones have carried out monumental tasks in preventing terrorist attacks and capturing important Taliban leaders, including the surveillance of the infamous “Osama Bin Laden”.

First let us look at the construction of a drone. A typical drone is made of light composite materials to reduce weight and increase manoeuvrability. Also, the composite material strength allows it to cruise at extremely high altitudes. They are equipped with state of the art infra-red cameras, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), laser or GPS guided missiles and other top secret systems. They can be either controlled by remotes or a ground cockpit. Drones come in a wide variety of sizes, some which can be launched by hand to some which require short runways. A UAV system has two parts, the drone itself and the control system. The plane is controlled from the ground by trained combat pilots or programmers. The surveillance data is sent to satellites from which it is received by the ground forces to form the attack strategies and vulnerable areas in the enemy’s camp. Drones can fly at extremely high altitudes to avoid detection. Along with all these features, comes a heavy price tag. A military drone along with the control system costs about 50 million US dollars.

The nose of the drone is where all the sensors and navigational systems are present. The rest of the body is complete innovation since there is no loss for space to accommodate humans and also light weight. The engineering materials used to build the drone are highly complex composites which can absorb vibration which decreases the noise produced. They can be equipped with missiles to exterminate targets or to provide support to the ground forces.-